NOLS New Zealand Campus

Kia ora koutou, friends, and welcome to NOLS New Zealand! Join us in exploring the South Island’s rainforests, mountains, alpine grasslands and coastal bays. On campus, you’ll meet our eclectic group of local instructors and in-town staff—and perhaps the cows our transport manager runs on the property. In the field, you’ll learn one or more technical skills, including backpacking, mountaineering, keelboat sailing, whitewater canoeing, or sea kayaking. Sail a keelboat in the Marlborough Sounds off the upper South Island or paddle a sea kayak along rocky coves and sandy beaches. Backpack across lush river valleys, beech forests, and craggy peaks while listening for the call of the kea, a mountain parrot found only in New Zealand. During your travels, you might also have the privilege of meeting members of a local Maori community and learning about their way of life, past and present. Due to the island’s ever-changing weather, don’t be surprised to encounter four seasons in a single day! You’ll learn to embrace uncertainty as you adjust to the unpredictability of this beautiful and remote landscape. And you’ll carry the easygoing and welcoming atmosphere of our campus into the mountains, valleys, and coasts of New Zealand—and beyond.